


A Dream is a Wish

by fencer_x



Category: Free!
Genre: Birthday, M/M, Skype
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 17:28:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14313624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fencer_x/pseuds/fencer_x
Summary: Rin skypes Haruka to wish him happy birthday, but Haruka has better ideas for a gift than what Rin has prepared.





	A Dream is a Wish

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Haru's Birthday Bash 2015; happy birthday you beautiful dolphin, you :3

_Boop, de-boop, boop — Boop, de-boop, boop_

Haruka poked his head out of his bathroom, toothbrush hanging from his lips and mouth foaming with toothpaste. His brows furrowed in concern as he tried to pinpoint the source of the strange noise echoing throughout his tiny apartment—it wasn’t the rice cooker, and he didn’t think his television was even plugged in—before realizing it was an incoming Skype call on his computer.

He hastily rinsed out his mouth, patting away any remaining dribbles with the towel draped around his neck, and padded into the bedroom to settle in front of the laptop, clicking the ‘answer’ button. He didn’t need to wait for the video feed to start streaming to know who was calling—there were only three people who ever insisted on these video chats, and he’d just finished having dinner with two of them.

The get-together had been Nagisa’s idea; he and Rei had skipped their Tuesday classes after mid-day on a flight to Tokyo, and Makoto had been in charge of kidnapping Haru halfway through practice. There had been dinner at a mackerel-themed restaurant in Ebisu (which Haruka would be patronizing weekly from now on), some very poor renditions of famous ballads in a cramped karaoke booth, and “drunken” confessions after they’d ordered a round of non-alcoholic beers. Birthday had never been something Haruka particularly concerned himself with—there was nothing inherently special about the day, and most years he had classes to attend and other obligations. But in recent years he’d come to appreciate the fact that, even if _he_ didn’t care that much about his birthday—his friends _did_ , and seeing how they liked to go out of their way to remind him how fortunate they were that he’d been born…made him feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, and like he wanted the whole thing to be over and done with.

He loved it.

But just as Nagisa had been trying to decide on whether or not to extend their karaoke time for another hour, Makoto had piped up, professing that Haruka needed to head home to get some rest for an early class the next day. When Haruka had started to voice his confusion—since he didn’t have classes until afternoon the next day—Makoto had fixed him with a pointed stare, promptly stifling any further protests. 

Now, standing in his pajamas with minty fresh breath looking at an incoming call from _RIN MATSUOKA_ , he was starting to understand Makoto’s rush to get him back home.

He brushed a finger over the trackpad, clicking ‘talk’, and rifled through the little basket of accessories beside his desk as Rin began squawking, _”Hello? Hello?? Oi, Haru! You there? Can you see me?”_

“I can see you fine. And stop shouting; it’s late, you’ll disturb the neighbors.”

 _”That’s what the headset’s for!”_ Rin reminded, tapping on one of the earpieces of his own headset as he adjusted the angle of his camera so that Haruka wasn’t left looking down his shirt. _“And it’s later for me anyway; I stayed up just for you!”_

Haruka sighed when he finally found his headset, hastily plugging it in and adjusting the mouthpiece. “You say that like I’m the one who called _you_.” He frowned, ready to call Rin out. “You dragged Makoto into this, didn’t you? I was having fun, and you made him interrupt it.”

 _”Bullshit,”_ Rin laughed brightly. _”No way you were actually having fun.”_

“…The others were having fun. And I liked watching them enjoy themselves.”

Rin nodded, smile gone fond. _”There’s the Haru I know—and yes, I’ll ‘fess up. I did indeed enlist the services of our own Tachibana-san in carrying out my dastardly deed to wish you happy birthday.”_ He then added, because he could, _”But it wasn’t hard to get him to agree; I think he felt guilty the Iwatobi guys got to take you out and I’m stuck on the other side of the planet for your birthday this year.”_

“It was your decision to go. And I’ve survived plenty of birthdays with you in Australia. I’m sure this one won’t be difficult to endure.”

Rin mimed a chest injury. _”Brutal, Nanase! Just brutal! Not even a ‘hi how are ya’? Just diving right into the trash talk?”_

His tone was light, but Haruka sensed a thread of sincere hurt, and knowing that Rin could be surprisingly sensitive to seemingly insignificant oversights, he allowed, “…It’s good to hear from you. Rin.”

Rin’s expression softened, though he tried to keep his grin sharp for show. _”It’s not everyone I’ll stay up til almost midnight to talk to, y’know. Sousuke only gets a call if it’s before 8 PM, and Gou’s lucky if I carve out time on a weekend.”_

“Lucky me.”

 _”Lucky you, indeed! I’m exhausted, actually—a local university had a joint training camp with a sister school from the US, and my club got invited to join in. You should’ve_ seen _some of the guys the US has aiming for an Olympic team spot!”_

It was difficult to tell if he was awestruck or nervous—or a little bit of both. “Intimidating?”

Rin snorted. _”Hell no; but there’s no room for slacking off with that kind of competition in the water…”_ His gaze went a bit distant. _”It’s…exciting. When they left at the end of the week—I actually felt sad. Can you believe it? I guess because I knew I wouldn’t be able to compete against the likes of them for a while. It’s just a little frustrating, is all. Knowing what’s out there, and knowing you can’t go up against it yet…”_ He made a little fist, and something sharp clenched in his chest.

Haruka knew that feeling, had experienced its bitter double edge. There was just something _painful_ for Haruka now, knowing that there was this great big wide world out there, that Rin was already dipping his toe into this vast sea of experience, while Haruka was stuck here in Japan. He wasn’t Rin, though—he couldn’t go to Australia, or the US, or Europe. Not alone. He’d come to Tokyo, though, and that was a huge step for him—so he’d have to be patient. 

Besides, Rin wasn’t the only one getting to see the best the world had to offer in action. “I went to watch some of the Japan Swim races,” he blurted out, unsure why he felt he had to one-up Rin. Perhaps he just wanted to make it clear that he was getting his own brand of experience, even if it didn’t quite compare with joint training camps with international elite. “…Only the finals, though.”

 _”Oh??”_ Rin perked up. _”Scoping out our competition, hm?”_ Haruka tried not to think overly long on the little skip-beat his heart did at _our competition_. Rin was Rin and Haruka was Haruka and just because they were walking the same path didn’t mean there was any _we_ or _our_ , so Rin really shouldn’t be using words like that. 

“My Coach suggested we go, and I had free time. That’s all.” Rin rolled his eyes, and Haruka added, just to serve him right: “Your fastest Butterfly time wouldn’t have gotten you on the team, just so you know.”

Rin colored, eyes popping wide, but rather than offering a sputtered remark of offense, he merely mumbled, _”…You pay attention to my Butterfly times?”_ Before Haruka could explain himself, Rin fidgeted in place and reminded, _”A-anyway, I’ve been training my ass off; any data you’ve got on me is probably months out of date.”_

“So send me your latest times.”

 _”Fine! I will! But—”_ He opined a finger at the screen. _”—You’ve gotta send me yours, too!”_

“If you want to know mine, come time me yourself.”

 _”Oi, that’s not fair—send me your times. I want your 50, 100,_ and _200, got it?”_

“You’re breaking up; I can’t hear you.”

 _”Screw you; I’ll just get Makoto to do my dirty work for me, then.”_ Something must have occurred to him here, for his brows furrowed and the fire left his voice. _”…Hey, why didn’t you swim? Your times should’ve been more than good enough to get you into the preliminaries, and the experience would do you good.”_

Haruka pursed his lips, suddenly ashamed. “…I didn’t want to make the team yet.”

Rin raised a brow. _”…Okay, setting aside the fact that there’s no guarantee you would’ve made it even if you’d competed—”_ Haruka shot him a warning look, and Rin raised his hands in defense. _”Or fine, fine! Maybe you would’ve! If anyone could’ve, it’d be you.”_ He cocked his head to the side. _”Just…you should be going for it, then! What’re you sitting around waiting for?”_

Haruka hesitated. “…You’re still in Australia.”

_”Huh? What difference does that make? You do your thing, I’ll do mine, and we’ll meet somewhere in the middle! That’s how we work—you shouldn’t give up on a swimming career just because I’m not there to wipe your—”_

“I’m not giving up a career,” Haruka explained carefully. “…I’m just giving up the world. Until you’re done.”

Rin frowned. _”…That’s…you shouldn’t do that…”_

“I want to.”

_”But now I feel like I’m holding you back. And I’ve still got stuff to sort out down here.”_

Haruka shrugged, unconcerned with Rin’s convenience. “You’re not holding me back. You said yourself I may not have even made the team.”

Rin flashed a wry grin. _”…Nah, you would’ve. Then I’d have to sit there in the stands watching you when the Pan Pacific came back to Australia.”_

And that was precisely why Haruka hadn’t applied for the races; it was hard—watching someone you cared for swim and knowing you couldn’t be there with them. It had been nigh unbearable when he’d had to watch Rin do it; he wouldn’t ask Rin to do the same. Rin had his hangups, Haruka had his own. This was just how they were, and Rin would have to accept that.

He decided to change the subject. “It’s my birthday.”

_”An astute observation, Nanase-san. Is this the kind of stuff you’re learning in your lectures?”_

He ignored the jibe. “You haven’t given me a present.”

 _”Manners, Haru! It’s rude to just_ ask _for a present—you’ve gotta wait til someone offers you one.”_ Even as he protested, though, he shifted to the side, rustling through a bag beside his chair before drawing out a length of muted, elegant fabric. _”I know you’re not really into fashion and you don’t usually wear scarves, but this is pretty much all they’re selling in the shops these days, so…”_

“If you know I don’t care, why would you get me that?”

Rin flushed red with anger and shame. _”What the—because I thought it’d look good on—I mean, just hear me out, ungrateful prick!”_

“I don’t want it; get me something else.”

Rin stuffed the scarf back into the shopper he’d drawn it from, grumbling under his breath. _“You don’t get to pick and choose what you get!”_

“I thought that was the point of having a birthday—for people to get you things you really want.” Rin’s whole demeanor deflated, and Haruka felt a twinge of regret for riling him up so, quickly brushing it aside.

 _”…Fine. What_ do _you want, then? You’re a bitch to shop for—you’re picky about your suits, you’ve got, like, thirty pairs of goggles and swim caps already, and I refuse to enable your mackerel fetish!”_ He ended his rant with a huff. _”So what can I get you, Nanase Haruka, on this the anniversary of the day you were born?”_ He raised his brows suggestively. _“Want me to let you win our next race? I can make it close, just so you feel good—how does three-tenths of a second count?”_

“I want you to come back.”

Rin paled. _”…What? Haru…”_

He shook his head. “I don’t mean now. I don’t even mean soon. But—this time next year. I want to be on the National Team with you.” He let his gaze falter, unable to bear that judging, confused stare any longer. “I’ll give you one year in Australia—and you’d better train hard, because I will too, and then…you’re going to make the team next April, and you’ll wear that jacket on my birthday next year. That’s what I want.”

Rin had told him, heartfelt, that he needed Haruka swimming in front of him, a goal to strive for—but how could he expect to do that if he was stuck in the stands?

He’d gone to Australia for revenge—and if he couldn’t get his revenge, make his mark, show everyone the man he’d become in a year’s time…then Haruka didn’t want him back. 

Because it went both ways; Rin needed Haruka in front of him as a beacon, a bright shining city on the hill to aspire to—but Haruka needed Rin at his back, either nipping at his heels or shoving him forward, because otherwise he might just stop again, forget his dream, be _content_. And that was unacceptable.

Rin sighed. _”…Are you_ sure _you don’t want me to just let you win our next race? That’s a present I’m prepared to give any time, any place.”_ Haruka didn’t respond, keeping his expression even, and Rin shook his head. _”…G’night, Haru. Happy birthday.”_

“Wha—Rin?”

 _”Send me your address—I’m gonna ship you this scarf, and you_ will _wear it when I’m home for the new year. Don’t make me tell Makoto to remind you.”_

Haruka felt his cheeks heat in irritation, frustrated that Rin was just brushing off his demand. “But—what about—“

 _”I already got you a present—and you don’t get to pick and choose.”_ He felt a spark flare bright—and then fizzle out into curling wisps of smoke in his chest, dead and dark. He’d pushed too hard, and it seemed even on his birthday, Rin wouldn’t bend _that_ far. It hadn’t been a fair request anyway; Rin had his own reasons for being in Australia, and what did Haruka know of the complex facets Rin was dealing with, being back there? _”…I’m saying I can’t get you two presents, Haru.”_

“…Yeah—good night. Thank you.” He brushed a finger over the trackpad, flicking the mouse to the ‘end call’ button.

 _”But I’ve got a pretty good idea of what to get you next year.”_ Haruka’s fingers froze, his gaze flicking up warily to peer into the little camera. Across the screen and thousands of kilometers away, Rin’s lips quirked up into a grudging grin. _”Guess you’ll have to wait ’til then to see if it’s what you wanted,”_ he teased—and then his image went dark, the screen flashing their call time.

It was probably the first time he’d ever actually looked forward to a birthday.


End file.
